Information Technology

Overview

Information Technology

Information technology projects are an integral part of the work county human services staff do to serve clients and all Californians. Well-designed technology allows human services professionals to focus on serving their customers’ needs. Counties have pioneered many advances, such as the use of imaging systems and mobile technologies, to better support the work of their staff. Counties also partner with the state to promote best practices in managing technology, and to ensure that counties’ needs are represented in the design, implementation, and operation of statewide technology projects, which serve more than 11 million people.

Budget Priority

Fund Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool Rebuild and Integration in SAWS

CWDA is requesting support for proposed trailer bill language and funding to integrate the Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool (OCAT) as a service within the SAWS, which is the system of record for CalWORKs in California, as part of the 2017-18 budget. Currently, OCAT is a standalone system that requires county staff to do duplicate data entry, and the lack of integration with SAWS impedes outcome tracking.

Featured Content

Counties Use Technology to Promote the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

Counties used technology to promote the new California EITC, the federal EITC, and the VITA program. The 2015 tax filing year was the first for the new state EITC, which is targeted to very low income earners, and is also the first year for Medi-Cal recipients to receive the 1095-B form providing information about their health coverage which is needed to complete tax returns.

Article

White House Recognizes Placer County’s Use of Mobile Technology to Fight Rural Child Poverty
Obama Administration announces initiative to build brighter future for rural kids and challenges other counties across country to follow the lead of Placer County.

From the White House blog: Between 2012 and 2014, child poverty fell further than it had since 2000, indicating that the economic recovery is starting to improve prospects for poor families. Still, in 2014, roughly 2.5 million children in rural areas were poor and approximately 1.2 million children lived in rural families with cash incomes below half of the poverty line.

IT Project

C-IV Receives Grant Funding for Mobile Application

Utilizing grant funding from the Food and Nutrition Service, the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) Consortium-IV (C-IV) has developed Phase 1 of a mobile application that extends the functionality of its C4Yourself web portal to smart phone users who have either iOS or Android operating systems.

IT Project

CalWIN Launches New Business Rules Engine

CalWIN – the case management system supporting 18 counties – is launching a new Business Rules Engine, the first of many significant modernizations to help transform its system.

IT Project

Statewide Automated Welfare System – California’s Most Successful Automation of Human Services Programs

The Statewide Automated Welfare System, commonly referred to as SAWS, is California’s county-managed public assistance eligibility and enrollment system. It ensures more than 11 million people receive the assistance they need every day across the state.

IT Project

County Priorities for Changes to Case Management Information and Payrolling System (CMIPS) II

The CMIPS II system is the case management and payroll system for the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, and supports the work of county IHSS workers. As such, counties have a key role in informing requests to maintain and improve system functionality.

IT Project

Opportunities for County Input to CMIPS II Changes

CWDA works with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the Office of Systems Integration (OSI) to provide county input into CMIPS II system changes. We have several significant change requests pending that will involve joint state and county input into the design, which will occur through a workgroup process.

IT Project

Child Welfare Services New System (CWS-NS) Project

The CWS-NS project is undertaking a new approach to human services automation projects, which has proven successful in other industries. California is the first state in the nation to use this “agile” approach to develop a system with the complexity and sensitivity to support child welfare services.